Scientific Illustration: Non-photorealistic rendering of sparse wireframe with dashed/dotted lines for backfacing areas - Blender 2.80
This can be accomplished by using Freestyle and Freestyle Edge Marks.




No silhouette


With silhouette

Assuming you already have a model that you would like to render using this style, select it and switch to edit mode (Tab). Deselect all vertices (Alt+A).



Next you need to select all edge loops that you should appear in the rendered image. Edge loops can be select by using the Shift+Alt+LMB shortcut (or RMB if your using right-click select). Once you have all the desired edge loops selected press Ctrl+E and select Mark Freestyle Edge. Alternatively you can use the menu Edge > Mark Freestyle Edge as well.



Enable Freestyle in the Render Properties.



Switch to the View Layer Properties. First we are going to create the line set for the directly visible parts of the wireframe. Selection By should have Visibility and Edge Types enabled and Visibility should be set to Visible. The only edge type that should be enabled is Edge Mark.



Create an new line set through the plus button and select it. This line set is for the dashed lines. Selection By should have Visibility and Edge Types enabled and Visibility should be set to Hidden. The only edge type that should be enabled is Edge Mark. In the Freestyle Line Style enable Dashed Line and give it the desired spacing.




A third line set is needed for the contours of the object. Enable the Contour edge type for this line set. The Silhouette can be enabled as well, if you want the boundary between visible and hidden faces marked with an edge (See example at the beginning). You can give the line set a larger thickness in the Freestyle Line Style if you like.



Now you can add a shader of your choice to your mesh, adjust lighting and camera position and you're done. In my example render I used the Toon Shader for Cycles, a single point light and Ambient Occlusion (World Properties).